Page 51 of Harmless
In front of me, Nella had gone completely still. And pale.
“Last time I’m asking,” I warned her. “Who owns the resort?”
She swallowed and glared at me, trying to put on a brave front, but she had started to shake.
“Suit yourself.” I scooted my chair back to give the guys room to surround her.
Dan flexed his fingers, opening and closing his hand into a fist. “Mind if I knock some teeth out? I don’t want my dick to get bitten off.”
“Mm…” I pretended to think about it. “Not preemptively, no. But if she does bite, feel free.”
Nella’s teeth chattered from how hard she shook, while the guys closed in and began undoing their belts and jeans. She looked at me through the gaps between their bodies, eyes round and pleading, while I kept my expression passive like I was about to watch a boring TV show.
Dan’s cock was already stiff and engorged, his fist wrapped around the base. He clasped the back of Nella’s head with his free hand, guiding her mouth to him when she screamed out, “Sisters of Bathory!”
I rocked forward in my chair and the men froze. “Who?”
“Sisters of Bathory…” Nella was sobbing now, curling into herself. “Please don’t hurt me…”
I signaled for the guys to step away, wondering why that name rang a bell in my head. “Where are they located?”
“All over…several locations…”
“Do they have a central base? A headquarters?”
“Yes…a compound in the Basin Territory.”
“You’re going to write down the exact location for me and every single detail you know. How many people in total, including armed guards. Is it another resort?”
“No, it’s just…” Nella sniffed. “It’s where we live. Where we’re safe from…” Her eyes slid over a trembling shoulder to where the guys stood a few feet away.
I snapped my fingers in front of her face. “Focus. And write. Otherwise, I still have their money. And they’ll want what they paid for.”
Her expression crumbled into despair, abject fear, and betrayal.
That last one was a doozy. It fucked with my head the whole time her shaky hands chicken-scratched the information I asked for on a legal pad.
She felt betrayed by me. Like there was some code I wasn’t supposed to break because we were both women.
When she finished, I scanned the paper and felt satisfied with what I’d gotten.
Nella’s head was bent, her defeated gaze on the floor. A few dark spots of wetness had landed on the concrete. Tears.
“Don’t let them touch me,” she cried softly. “I swear that’s everything I know.”
Sympathy threatened to rise up in my throat, but I choked it off. This woman had blood on her hands. She’d used and sold dozens of men, including one I was falling in love with. Everyone had trauma, it didn’t make them a good or bad person. I’d just figured out how to use hers for our gain.
It worked, and the job was done. But I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
Saying nothing, I got to my feet, taking the legal pad with me. I went up the stairs, the guys following after me, and Nella was left alone.
Once Carter closed the door behind him, I let out a long breath that had constricted my chest like a fist. “Thank you, guys. I’m sorry I asked you to act like that, but…thank you.”
They all nodded and grunted through tight-lipped frowns. I picked these men in particular because I trusted them well enough to know that they’d get no pleasure in acting like they were about to gang-rape a woman. They’d follow through on what I’d asked them to do but would never go a step too far.
It never would have happened, but Nella believed it would. That was the whole point, and yet, it wasn’t sitting well with me.
“Anything else you need?” Carter asked.
